Beth Phoenix
Elizabeth Kocanski Carolan (born November 24, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Beth Phoenix. She is best known for her tenure with WWE for Extreme (WWEFE, or just WWE), where she is a former 2-time Women's Champion. Carolan had a successful amateur wrestling career in high school, before being trained by the All Knighters. After her debut in May 2001, she wrestled for numerous independent promotions, and was the inaugural GLORY Champion. She also appeared at the inaugural Shimmer shows. In 2004, she began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and signed a developmental contract with WWE in October 2005. She first debuted on WWE's RAW brand on April 3, 2006, but suffered a legitimate broken jaw the following month. As a result, she had numerous surgeries and returned to OVW for further training. While there, she twice won the OVW Women's Championship, although her second reign is not officially recognized. She returned to the RAW brand on November 12, 2006 at Cyber Sunday, and was heavily pushed, dominating the other WWE Divas and gaining the nickname, "The Glamazon". She won her first WWE Women's Championship at the Armageddon pay-per-view in December, although she had to forfeit it due to injury. She later went on to feud with Ashley Massaro, leading to her winning the Women's Championship again at Backlash. Amateur wrestling career Carolan began wrestling on the Elmira, New York Notre Dame High School scholastic wrestling team. She was the first female varsity wrestler in her high school's history. She became the North-East freestyle women's champion (72 kg weight class) in 1999. She also became the women's champion (72 kg weight class) at the New York State Fair Tournament in 1999. At the time she was also a member of USA Wrestling, a freestyle wrestling association. Her life goal was, according to her, to become a professional wrestler, and she believed that having a solid amateur background would help her reach it. Professional wrestling career Training After graduating from high school in 1998, she enrolled in both a professional wrestling school and Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Her first choice for wrestling school was Stu Hart's Dungeon, but because of the location, she decided on a more local school. At the school, she was trained by the All Knighters (Joey Knight and Robin Knightwing), who themselves had trained in the Hart Dungeon. Her professional wrestling debut match was against Alexis Laree. She then competed with various independent promotions, including Cleveland All Pro Wrestling and Apocalypse Wrestling, against both male and female wrestlers, using the name "Phoenix". In 2002, she was one of the first wrestlers in GLORY, an independent organization for women, and was the inaugural champion. She then joined Far North Wrestling (FNW), and was the only female wrestler in the promotion. She defeated Joey Knight and Kevin Grace in 2003 to become the FNW Cruiserweight Champion. Later in 2003 she took part in World Xtreme Wrestling's annual Women's Elite 8 tournament where she made it to the final, before losing to April Hunter. She returned two years later and defeated Nikki Roxx but was bested in the second round by eventual winner Alicia. The following month, Phoenix appeared at the inaugural taping for the Ring of Honor sister promotion Shimmer Women Athletes; during Volume 1 she was pinned by Shimmer founder Allison Danger but scored an upset victory in a non-title match against NWA Midwest Women's Champion MsChif. Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004–2007) She was invited to a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2004, and then relocated to Louisville, Kentucky to work for their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). She debuted on OVW television in July 2004, having expanded her ring name to "Beth Phoenix", and became the on-screen girlfriend and valet of Chris Masters. The storyline was short lived, and the following month Phoenix was repackaged as the manager of Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. She signed a developmental contract with WWE on October 20, 2005, the same month that she broke her hand. The duo was then joined by Shelly Martinez who Beth soon feuded with in early 2006. Phoenix then stopped appearing regularly on OVW after debuting on WWE's RAW television show. On August 16, 2006, Phoenix returned to action in OVW, defeating Serena. Phoenix began regularly competing for the OVW Women's Championship, unsuccessfully challenging the champion ODB in a battle royal and a four-way match, which was won by Serena. At the October 4, 2006 OVW television tapings, however, Phoenix defeated Serena to win the championship. She lost the championship to Victoria Crawford in a gauntlet match on October 20, and won it back the next day; however, Crawford's title reign is not officially recognised, and as a result, neither is Phoenix's second reign. Phoenix officially dropped the championship in a gauntlet match at the November 1 television taping, after she was eliminated by Lea, who eventually won the match. World Wrestling Entertainment Debut and injury (2006) Phoenix debuted on the April 3, 2006 edition of RAW, competing in ten-diva bra & panties match to crown the new WWE Women's Champion, which she lost after being stripped by eventual winner, Looney Lane. Phoenix suffered a legitimately fractured mandible during the match, but was able to continue the match. She spent eight months having surgeries and recovering, including getting a titanium plate and nine screws placed in her jaw, but she was only out of action for two months, as she returned to action in OVW instead of on the main roster. The Glamazon (2007–2008) (Under construction) Other media Phoenix, along with Fergie and Ashley Massaro, appeared in the February 2007 issue of FLEX Magazine. Personal life Carolan was raised in Elmira, New York. When she was eleven years old, she won a coloring contest with a prize of tickets to a television taping for World Wrestling Federation. Carolan credits this as when she fell in love with professional wrestling. She cites Owen Hart and Ted DiBiase as her favorite wrestlers. As well as wrestling, Carolan played tennis and ran track in high school. Carolan is a graduate from Canisius College with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. While wrestling in OVW, Carolan also worked as a waitress at a local restaurant. It was reported that she is married to Joey Carolan, known by the ring-name Joey Knight, however, she has since denied being married. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Beth Valley Driver'' (Samoan driver) – independent circuit **Chokebomb – OVW **Delayed cradle suplex – 2007–mid 2008 **''Down in Flames'' (Michinoku driver II) – 2006-present **Elevated double chickenwing – 2007 **''Glam Slam'' (Elevated double chickenwing wheelbarrow facebuster) – 2007–present *'Signature moves' **Backbreaker **Cloverleaf **Military press transitioned into either a slam or a drop **Slingshot suplex *'Managers' **Scorpion *'Wrestlers managed' **Scorpion *'Nicknames' **'"The Glamazon"' **"The Total Package of Women's Wrestling" **"The Über Diva" *'Entrance themes' **"Glamazon" by Jim Johnston (2006) **'"Cadence of Her Last Breath (Instrumental)"' by Nightwish (2007-present) Championships and accomplishments Amateur wrestling *'North-East Wrestling' **Women's Champion (72 kg weight class) (1999) *'New York State Fair' **Women's Champion (72 kg weight class) (1999) Professional wrestling .]] *'Far North Wrestling' **FNW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) *'GLORY Wrestling' **GLORY Championship (1 time) *'Ohio Valley Wrestling' **OVW Women's Championship (2 times) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked her #'2' of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2007 *'WWE for Extreme' **WWE Women's Championship (2 times) *'The Wrestling Clothesline' **TWC ranked her #'3' of the best 50 female independent wrestlers in 2004 Category:WWE for Extreme Category:Women's champions Category:Female wrestlers Category:WWE Divas Category:1980 births